Boarding ramps are commonly used to assist persons getting into and departing from a boat or other type of marine vessel. Many, if not most boarding ramps, are portable. At the commencement of a boat trip, the ramp must be securely installed between the dock or pier and the vessel. After all passengers have boarded the boat, the ramp must then be physically removed. This procedure is then repeated at the termination of the trip so that the passengers may safely and comfortably disembark the boat. The current technique of repeatedly deploying and removing the boat ramp tends to be unsafe, extremely time consuming, laborious and tedious. Typically, at least one crewman of passenger must jump back and forth between the vessel and adjacent dock, both at the beginning and at the end of the trip. To date, most boat ramps have required this type of inconvenient manual installation and removal.